Victory Records have proudly announced that they will be hosting a stage at this year’s Rockstar energy Drink Mayhem Festival. All summer long, Victory will present the Victory Records Stage featuring the likes of Emmure, Ill Nino, Islander, Wretched and Erimha. The stage will be headlined at 4:25PM each day by Emmure, who will be touring in support of their new album, Eternal Enemies, out 15th April. This also makes Emmure the first band to ever play Mayhem Festival two years in a row.

This year, for the first time, the festival will feature FOUR stages of metal and hardcore with the Rockstar Energy Drink Main Stage, Coldcock American Herbal Whiskey Stage, The Headbang For The Highway/Sumerian Stage and the Victory Records Stage.

Tickets go on sale this Friday (4th April) at 10AM local time with the “72 Hour Get Off Your Ass” special offer on reserved and lawn tickets. Check your local ticketing date page for details on this great deal/ This year also look for Freestyle Motocross and a Motorsports exhibition area and many other surprises and attractions. Further details can be found at this location.

Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, the boys of Battlecross have hit major success with the release of their albums Push Pull Destory, Pursuit of Honor, and their newest release War of Will. Playing with major metal acts and being a part of massive tours such as the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival and Orion Music Fest, it’s no wonder that they’re well known and loved by many. They’ve taken influences of upbeat thrash, death and southern metal to create a sound that’s punishing but is also is refreshing for fans of metal. I got the chance to catch up with Battlecross guitarist; Hiran Deraniyagala for a word or two about the new album; War Of Will as well as his musical inspirations and movies.

Lauren: How did you come up with the name Battlecross?

Hiran: Tony came up with it. I remember coming out of one of my classes in college and getting a text from Tony saying “What about Battlecross, as a band name?” I remember it just hit me really well. I loved it but like with all band names we always check the internet to see if anyone already had the name we came up with. No one had the name from what we could find so we both agreed it was an awesome name. It took some convincing to get the other band members to agree with it but eventually they just went with it. “Battlecross” to me represents something powerful, epic and aggressive which I think represents the music. I like the fact that our name can give people different expectations about how we sound versus a typical band name. People have assumed we’re a “Power Metal” band and obviously got something different from what they expected.

Lauren: Who are your biggest musical inspirations?

Hiran: In general I would say that we draw a common influence from Pantera, Metallica and Slayer but we each have our own musical influences that we draw influence from. Personally, I draw influence from various metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Circle Of Dead Children, Pig Destroyer, Woe Of Tyrants, Goatwhore, Emperor, Meshuggah, Morbid Angel, Mastodon, Black Sabbath, Down, and local metal bands from Michigan like, Enkephalin, Summer Dying and GutRot. I’ve always been intrigued by the technicality and aggressiveness of extreme metal bands but also the groove of doom metal.

Lauren: How would you say your newest album, War of Will, differs from your previous releases?

Hiran: Yes definitely. War of Will is a much more focused and mature album for us. We grew as a band, from touring and also mentally, from being in a different position as a full time touring band on a label. There are expectations that not only come from ourselves but from fans and the industry. We were under pressure to complete the album and had roughly a month or two to finish writing followed by a tour and then right into the studio. We didn’t let the pressure stop or deter us from what we had to do. We knew we had to kick it up a notch to top what we did on the first album but at the same time not lose who we are as a band. I think each song on this record has more of a dynamic. We didn’t want every song to sound the same or just play fast all the time. There’s more melody but still brutality on this record. With tracks like “Flesh and Bone” and “Wage a War” which have a lot of melody to them, then you have “Beast” and “The Will To Overcome” which reflect the brutality of the band and then songs like “Ghost Alive” and “Force Fed Lies” that are thrash style songs.

Lauren: How has touring been this last year?

Hiran: Touring has been great! We’ve had so many great opportunities that we had the pleasure of being a part of. From Trespass America with Five Finger Death Punch and Killswitch Engage, opening for In Flames, then Orion fest with Metallica and of course, Mayhem Festival with Rob Zombie, Mastodon, Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom, Machine Head and Huntress. All these tours have given us a chance to play in front of large crowds and have really helped us gain a quickly growing fan base. There a lot of bands that never get a chance to do these types of tours so we’re really thankful we’ve had the chance to be a part of these. Touring is hard work and a lot of dedication but when you bust ass and do tours like these it really makes the work all worthwhile. We’ve always been a hard working band and we know that this just the beginning to more opportunities. We don’t let these opportunities get to our head and we know that we’re still a young band that has more to prove but we’re ready.

Lauren: Have there been any memorable shows for you this last year?

Hiran: I would say most memorable show for us was Orion Music and More with Metallica. Playing a show with Metallica is a dream come true and we got to play with them in our hometown of Detroit! Not only did we play on the same bill with them but we got to be part of a press conference with the band! Out of all the great bands on the bill we were selected to do this! It was unreal and as a matter of fact I barely said a word at the press conference because I was so nervous! Never thought I would be sitting next to Metallica! To top it all off, James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo, came out on stage before we went on and introduced us! They pumped up the crowd and us! We went up there on fire and just burnt the place down with our energy and excitement. Truly a memorable and career highlight for us!

Lauren: If you could replace the soundtrack to any movie with your own music, which one would it be and why?

Hiran: I’m honestly more of a fan of scores when it comes to movies versus putting songs in a movie soundtrack. I really wouldn’t want to change the soundtrack of any particular movie I like because I feel like the music is already fitting for it but if I could I make my own movie with our music I would make an action movie. It’d be like the Expendables battling against the cast of all those dumb reality TV shows.

Lauren: Where would you like to see Battlecross in 5 years?

Hiran: My hope that our career is still thriving and that we will be touring all over the world. That’s all I really want from this band is a solid career and be playing anywhere and everywhere we can.

Lauren: Are there any plans for any upcoming tours or a new album?

Hiran: Definitely upcoming tours, we have a tour with Hatebreed, Shadows Fall and Acacia Strain this fall followed by a tour with Death Angel, 3 Inches Of Blood, Revocation and Diamond Plate! After that not sure what else is in store other than more touring and hopefully heading overseas! Can’t wait to play in Europe, South America, Japan and every where else on the globe! As far as a new album we’re not really focused on that yet other than working on some ideas on our own here and there.

Los Angeles based metal band Butcher Babies have released a lyric video for I Smell A Massacre, the lead track from their debut album Goliath, out 22nd July in Europe (digital only) and on 9th July in the US via Century Media Records. The video is premiering exclusively on the Monster Energy Drink Mayhem Festival’s website, and comes on the heels of Monday night’s world broadcast premier by Jose Mangin on SiriusXM Liquid Metal.
Watch the video at this location or down below.

Goliath was produced by Josh Wilbur (Gojira, Lamb Of God, Hatebreed). The results offer an undeniable mission statement to the metal community: forget everything you think you know about the Butcher Babies, because they’ve got their sights set to slay on Goliath.

Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth have been forced to cancel their upcoming appearance on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival due to their drummer Inferno taking ill and requiring surgery. The band’s frontman Nergal comments:

This must have been the most difficult decision we were forced to make in recent years. Behemoth is known for not cancelling any shows or tours. But this is not something we can do when we are missing our driving force, the man behind the drums – Inferno. Unfortunately, he was hospitalised due to appendix surgery and it’s gonna take him few months to fully recover and get back to shape. We are trying to save selected European Festivals with a fill in drummer [Krimh, ex-Decapitated], but we won’t be risking doing a full-on prestigious tour like the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival without Inferno. Behemoth is a solid unit and any part of this unit missing makes us weaker, and that is not how we want to present our new material to our fans. Please, accept our apologies and be patient, we shall return to Europe (this fall) and the US (early 2014) empowered and motivated as never before!

The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival is set to kick off on Saturday 29th June in San Bernardino, CA and features bands such as Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, Amon Amarth, Machine Head, Job For a Cowboy, Battlecross, Children of Bodom, and many more. For tickets, dates, contests, and more, head to the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Official Site and follow the tour on Facebook and Twitter.Behemoth’s recently announced forthcoming full-length album, The Satanist, is scheduled for a fall 2013 release.

Huntress are back with the follow up to their debut album Spell Eater, which was released in 2012. The album entitled Starbound Beast has been confirmed for release on July 1st in the UK via Napalm Records.

The artwork was created once again by Vance Kelly (Slayer, Ghost B.C., Mastdon). The band recorded the album at Hobby Shop Studios in Los Angeles, CA, working with famed producer Zeuss (Shadows Fall, Hatebreed, Agnostic Front). In support of Starbound Beast the band will be touring across North America this summer as part of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival and will play Download 2013 in June. More updates with regard to Starbound Beast will be issued soon.

Whitechapel have just been announced for Bloodstock 2013 along with Kataklysm, Avantasia and Ex Deo.

They will join headliners Lamb of God and King Diamond and special guests Anthrax.

Friday August 9th

Ronnie Jame Dio Stage

King Diamond
Accept
Municipal Waste
Dark Funeral
Firewind
Ex Deo

Saturday August 10th

Ronnie James Dio Stage

Lamb of God
Avantasia
Kataklysm

Sunday August 11th

Ronnie James Dio Stage

Anthrax
Devil Driver
Amorphis
Fozzy
Whitechapel

Whitechapel’s self-titled fourth album was released in June through Metal Blade, and the band spent the summer melting tarmac on the Mayhem Festival tour in the US (alongside Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead… and Bloodstock compadres, Anthrax).

Check out the new video for Possibilities Of An Impossible Existencehere.

Bloodstock 2013 will be held in Catton Park, Derbyshire on August 8th to 11th. Tickets for the festival are on sale now and can be purchased from the official website: http://www.bloodstock.uk.com